16 Conflict-Torn States Have Food Shortages – Food Agencies Warn UN

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have informed the UN Security Council (UNSC) about food shortages in 16 countries and one transboundary area ravaged by conflicts, the WFP said in a Monday statement.

Their latest report to the Council on food insecurity covers 16 countries,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the list included Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, as well as the transboundary Lake Chad Basin area.

The statement pointed out that the most critical situation had been registered in Yemen, where some 60 percent of the population has been facing food insecurity amid ongoing hostilities.

According to the WFP press service, the estimated number of undernourished people on the planet increased from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, and continued to rise in 2017.